In the first two weeks of the season, Matthew Stafford and the Detroit Lions have faced two teams that finished last year ranked ninth or better against the pass. He exited those two games with six touchdowns and one interception while completing more than 70% of his passes. Things get significantly easier this week.
Now, Stafford gets to put his talents up against the Atlanta Falcons in another game with the potential to feature a lot of points. They were 22nd against the pass last year, and the injuries are already starting to mount.
Quinn already ruled out Vic Beasley (hamstring) and Courtney Upshaw (ankle) for Lions game so they won't practice.
— vaughn mcclure (@vxmcclure23) September 20, 2017
The pass rush had been a bright spot through the first two weeks with opponents losing 19.60 expected points due to sacks, the third-highest mark in the league. With both Vic Beasley and Courtney Upshaw out, those abilities take a big hit.
They still have Desmond Trufant, so we're not just firing any bullets at this defense, but the Lions' offense has picked up where they left off last year prior to Stafford's finger injury.
Stafford suffered a joint dislocation and tore ligaments in his middle finger in the team's Week 14 game against the Chicago Bears. Check out his splits before that game compared to what he did from then on.
| Stafford in 2016 | Drop Backs | Passing NEP per Drop Back | Success Rate | TDs | INTs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prior to Injury | 460 | 0.22 | 49.57% | 21 | 5 |
| After | 206 | 0.04 | 47.57% | 3 | 5 |
Whew, boy. That's not great, Bob.
But Stafford has had a full offseason to heal, and he's looking spicy so far. That should allow him to exploit this defense.
You've got a pair of super fun stacking candidates with Stafford, as well, in Golden Tate and Eric Ebron. We'll start with Ebron, who's just $5,200 for the week.
In the 13 games that Ebron played last year, he commanded 17.28% of the team's total targets. Not many of them were in the red zone, but that was partially due to the presence of Anquan Boldin, who had 22 all by himself. With Boldin gone, Ebron's role in close could increase, as he showed in scoring a touchdown Monday night. Ebron's at home with an implied team total of 23.75 points, which is exactly what we want from a tight end, especially one as cheap as Ebron.
Tate was held to just four targets Monday, but it came a week after he had 12 targets in the opener. Tate's role should allow him to avoid the coverage of Trufant, so for $7,400, Tate's a fun asset in this offense, as well.